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FROM THE CATHOLIC PRESS

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'NZ Catholic' No 154, January 26, 2003 http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz

Caritas gives $40,000 to help Iraqi people Wellington - Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has sent $40,000 in response to an appeal by Caritas Iraq, as Iraqi organisations do what they can to prepare for war...

Vatican representative looks at spiritual needs of professional yachties Auckland - Spiritual needs rather than the sailing ability of the international teams has been the concern of one overseas visitor for the Louis Vuitton yacht races...

Govt eases burden for theology students Auckland - Access to Catholic tertiary education has become easier with a Ministry of Education announcement before Christmas that Good Shepherd College students are to have access to student allowances and loans...

From 'NZ Catholic's Think Page for young adult Catholics ... "Learning from the past year", by Justine Giles http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/Think.html

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Lonely struggle for peace and justice in E Timor (photo) Catholic Leader (Brisbane, Aust. ) 19.01.2003 http://www.catholicleader.com.au/prinfriendly.php?num=1187 The resignation of East Timor’s spiritual leader Bishop Carlos Belo will leave a huge vacuum in the fledgling nation which is still struggling to stand on its feet, says Bishop Hilton Deakin....

The Web’s sacred corner The Tablet (UK) 18 January 2003 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi?tablet-00702 A British Jesuit was one of a small team in Dublin who set out to create a website that would draw people into prayer at their computers. He is still amazed by its success. Four years after its launch, Sacred Space ( http://www.sacredspace.ie ), has clocked up five million visits...

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IRAQ

Islamabad (Fides Service) - "As the calamity of war in Iraq looms on the horizon, we recognise that this conflict will have far-reaching and disastrous consequences for all our region. We share the concern of our Muslim brethren and all people of good will in expressing their total condemnation of this pre-emptive strike." This is part of a Joint Pastoral Letter issued on 16 January signed by Archbishop Lawrence Saldhana, President of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference, and Mr Victor Azariah, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Pakistan.... Full text: http://www.fides.org/eng/vita_chiesa/pakistan_20012003.html

Canadian Bishops' Statement on Iraq Crisis http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=30409

German Bishops' Statement on Iraq Conflict http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=30323

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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Over-long eulogies laid to rest NZ Herald 24.01.2003 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyI\ D=3097651 An American archbishop has banned eulogies during funeral Masses, saying the personal tributes are getting out of hand. A spokeswoman for the Catholic Church in New Zealand, Lyndsay Freer, said no such bans were in place here, although priests did make suggestions to families when organising funerals on how eulogies should be handled....

Catholic school likely Otago Daily Times 23-January 2003 http://www2.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/getitem?date=23Jan2003&object=0122841784&type=html A co-educational Catholic primary school is likely to be operating in Wanaka by next year. Otago-Southland Catholic education director Tony Hanning confirmed yesterday the Dunedin diocese had bought some land adjacent to its Brownston St church....

Three Catholic schools to join Southland Times 23 January 2003 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/southlandtimes/0,2106,2210736a6568,00.html A move to join three Southland Catholic primary schools with a combined board of trustees and one principal has been approved by the Ministry of Education, the principal of one of the schools said yesterday. St Joseph's principal Tim Simpson said the decision to join his Invercargill school with St Patricks at Nightcaps and St Teresa's at Bluff was absolutely brilliant....

Give Mel That Ol' Time Religion XTRA/MSN Entertainment News http://xtramsn.co.nz/entertainment/0,,3894-2089460,00.html Here's an unlikely Hollywood pitch: a US $25 million biopic about a guy who died 2,000 years ago, shot in two languages that have been dead nearly as long, with no subtitles. Of course, there are some mitigating factors here. The Passion traces the day Jesus Christ was crucified. It's already been filmed, with Jim Caviezel playing Christ and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. And the producer-director-financier is Mel Gibson, who may become the Mad Max of conservative Catholicism, based on comments attributed to him in a Time magazine article this week about the otherwise hush-hush project....

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PARACHUTE MUSIC FESTIVAL

Thousands pour in to Parachute 03 festival Stuff/INL 25 January 2003 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,2216685a6004,00.html A record number of people at Parachute 03 last night justifies the Christian music festival's shift next year to Mystery Creek, near Hamilton, organisers say. About 20,000 people, 1000 more than last year, began pouring in the gates at Totara Springs, near Matamata, from 9am yesterday for the first of the festival's four nights....

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SPIRITUALITY

Joshua Catholic Men's' Fellowship. Newsletter Jan. 2003 http://www.joshuamen.orcon.net.nz/news/news.htm

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EVENTS

April 2003

The Eucharistic Convention, Friday 25th April - 6.00pm Sunday 27 April 2003 http://eucharistic-convention.com Venue: The Logan Campbell Theatre, Auckland Showgrounds, Greenlane Road, Auckland New Zealand The Eucharistic Convention 2003 is an annual event organised by lay people within the Auckland Diocese of the Catholic Church in New Zealand. Full details are on the Website.

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EMPLOYMENT

Adult Religious Education Co-ordinator, Catholic Diocese of Hamilton Details in 'NZ Catholic' Jan 26 2003 p.17 and from Naomi McGowan, tel: (07) 838 2079; fax: (07) 839 4652; e-mail: naomim@mlc.co.nz ; PO Box 19-221 Hamilton. Applications close: 3 February 2003

Religious Education Advisor, Northland Details in 'NZ Catholic' Jan 26 2003 p.17 and from Maureen Hammond, Co-ordinator Religious Education, Pompallier Diocesan Centre, Private Bag 47-904, Ponsonby, Auckland. Applications close 24 February 2003

Journalist, 'NZ Catholic' newspaper For full-time relieving work in Auckland in mid-2003. Details from the Editor, 'NZ Catholic'. E-mail: catholic@iconz.co.nz Tel. (09) 360 3069